Doctors at Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital in Jaipur have successfully removed what is believed to be the world’s longest trichobezoar—a 210-centimetre-long hairball—from the stomach of a 14-year-old girl from Barara village in Agra district, Uttar Pradesh. The previous record stood at 180 cm.
The girl had been experiencing abdominal pain and vomiting for over a month. A Contrast-Enhanced CT (CECT) scan revealed a swollen stomach containing an unusual object extending through the digestive tract. Doctors diagnosed her with Rapunzel Syndrome, a rare condition where a hairball extends from the stomach into the small intestine. This condition is often linked to Pica, a psychological disorder characterized by the compulsive eating of non-food items. In this case, the girl had been consuming hair, chalk, soil, and other inedible objects since class 6 .
The surgical team, led by Dr. Jeevan Kankaria, performed a complex two-hour laparotomy to extract the hairball in one piece, avoiding the need for multiple incisions. The mass also contained rubber bands, stones, wooden pieces, and threads. The hospital plans to submit this case to the Guinness World Records for official recognition .
